Guangdong high court upholds death sentence in triple murder

The Guangdong Provincial High People's Court has upheld a death sentence against Ye Dezhi for intentional homicide, rejecting his appeal and submitting the ruling to the Supreme People's Court for approval.

Ye was sentenced to death by the Zhangjiang Intermediate People's Court in August for killing three people from the same village in western Guangdong. The first-instance court also deprived him of political rights for life. Ye appealed the verdict, arguing for leniency.

In its second-instance verdict, the provincial high court said the facts established in the original trial were clear and consistent, the evidence was sufficient and reliable, and the law had been correctly applied. The court concluded that the original ruling should stand.

According to the verdict, Ye intentionally and unlawfully deprived others of their lives, constituting the crime of intentional homicide. Although he was found to have limited criminal liability at the time of the offense and had confessed to the crime, the court determined that the nature and circumstances of the crime were exceptionally serious and did not warrant a reduced sentence.

The details of the case, revealed in the Zhanjiang court's first-instance trial, date back to an evening in March, when Ye developed an intent to kill after suspecting that a fellow villager had wronged him. Armed with two kitchen knives, Ye rode a motorcycle to the villager's home but found him absent. Outside the residence, Ye encountered three of the villager's family members, aged 69, 36, and 2, and attacked them, killing all three.

Ye later attempted suicide but survived and was detained by police at his home. A forensic appraisal determined that he has schizophrenia and had limited criminal liability at the time of the offense, a finding the courts acknowledged but said did not alter the outcome.